Florida Vacation - I spent more time than President Obama

I just finished spending two weeks down in the Orlando / Treasure Island area of Florida (1 week in each area) and unlike the President who is WELL choreographed in where he goes, what he does, so that the sound bites and visuals will present him well without him really seeing anything, we went around the various tourist and regular places and got a feel of how central Florida is doing.

 

Harry Potter is doing really well.

 

I found out local residents who have yearly passes at Universal were "blacked out" from going during June / July due to the opening of Harry Potter at Universal Studios. And I could see why, lines were long in that area of the park, elsewhere 15 to 40 minutes per venue. Universal Studios on the other side lines were much shorter, 5 to 15 minutes on average. I had been there two years before and the lines were 15 to 40 minutes on both sides on average - some were as long as 1 1/2 hours (skipped those) - so there is a slight downturn in people, but still busy.

 

Epcot was busy but not crowded at all. Most people think Florida in July is a bad time to visit, but waking up in the morning with a low of 83 degrees, water at 85 (Gulf side) highs of 95, is actually very pleasant.

 

Going to St Petersburg and going around there you can see some downturn in the economy, a few storefronts for rent,  but not like other sections of the US where industries went away. A tourist town will always have a core group coming (like us), so a few years slow downturn will still allow them to survive. Business towns are always much harder hit when the whole business goes away.

 

And unlike the President, we actually went shopping and bought items there. He just goes and talks to a few (pre-selected) people and leaves (well in New Orleans he purchased a sandwich, whoopee!) and aside from the traffic problems his motorcade creates, he pretty much leaves no impact after he is gone. At least my wife and I really purchased items, paid our park fees, and left money in their economy.

 

Treasure Island area is really nice, as is Fort Desoto to the south, and Clearwater Beach to the north. Lots of wide beaches, no hugh crowds - and the only oil seen was suntan oil on people.